{"id":652,"date":"2014-04-14T15:10:58","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T15:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnpaciorek.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2017-11-05T21:35:40","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T21:35:40","slug":"a-most-inexcusable-act-of-irresponsibility-for-perpetrating-nothing-of-substance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.johnpaciorek.com\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"A Most Inexcusable Act of Irresponsibility for Perpetrating Nothing of Substance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Head<\/a>\"Head<\/a>\"Headfirst<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past week Baseball fans have been witnessing the ill-effect of what has become a standard operating procedure for many base-runners in this modern era of Major League Baseball. Injuries and near-injuries have been highlighted on Television and Stadium Screens, accurately depicting the awkwardness and inherent danger of sliding \u201chead-first\u201d into a base. Early on, spectators and ardent fans were privy to the disabling consequences of the meaningless antics of Dodger and Angel Stars Yasiel Puig and Josh Hamilton. Fortunately for Puig he was back in action a few days after temporary rehabilitation. But Josh Hamilton is not as fortunate. He will be out of commission from 6 to 8 weeks, just after having successfully regained his former MVP status with his League-leading Batting average.\"hamilton-head-first\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Watching Saturday night\u2019s game between the Angels and the Mets, even the casual observer must be wondering, after watching the slow-motion replays of specific sliding plays, why players seem to be deliberately jeopardizing their individual careers as well as their Teams\u2019 success with such reckless disregard for their personal safety. On a play at 3rd<\/sup> base, the camera showed conclusively how the Angel 3rd<\/sup> baseman casually placed his foot as an obstacle to the bag so that the head-first sliding David Wright (Mets All-Star 3rd<\/sup> Baseman) would be obstructed from a clear path to the bag. Wright was not only out on the play, but he jammed his hand and fingers into the ankle of Angels\u2019 David Freese. If Wright had slid \u201cspikes-first,” I\u2019m sure that Freese would have had second thoughts about placing his foot in the way of the base-runner, who would have been safe. And instead of Wright\u2019s own career being jeopardized, it would have been Freese on the disabled list.\"headfirst<\/a>\"Mike<\/a>\"mike-napoli-finger\"<\/a>\"bryce-harper-sliding<\/a>\"Bryce<\/a>\"Josh<\/a>\u00a0Josh Harrison of Pirates is now lost!<\/p>\n

(Add Mike Napoli and Bryce Harper to the list. – This isn’t Rocket-Science)<\/p>\n

Later that same game, Baseball\u2019s Biggest Star, Mike Trout, laced a low-liner passed the Mets short-stop into left-center field. Trout\u2019s hustling attitude gave every indication that he was going for two bases. Running full speed after rounding first he sprinted to second and, as his custom was, he slid furiously into the base, \u201cHead-First.\u201d He was safe, for the outfielder\u2019s frantic throw was far off the mark, but when he stood up he began shaking his right hand and wrist. As the instant replay showed, he slid so hard that he jammed his right wrist and hand into the bag as the momentum of his powerful body was carrying him over it. Needless to say, the Angels can ill-afford to lose their Star player, and Baseball would surely regret his brief or permanent absent from the Game.\"Rays<\/a><\/p>\n

These scenarios are no doubt being played out over the panorama of Major and Minor-League Baseball, as well as College and High-School arenas throughout the Country and elsewhere. The only half-way legitimate excuse for sliding \u201cHead-First\u201d is that for some unfathomable reason, a star athlete never learned how to correctly slide feet-first. Some (or perhaps All) head-first sliders might have had some traumatic experiences in Little\u2013League, where the scrapping of their right or left sides with what were affectionately known as \u201crazzberries<\/em>\u201d held a great reluctance to continue that regimen for securing a base. The lesser of two evils is undoubtedly a more practical approach, if its more serious consequences weren\u2019t being considered appropriately. However, the \u201crazzberry\u201d situation would be alleviated if correct sliding procedure was enacted, specifically sliding on the \u201cmeaty\u201d part of the \u201cButt,\u201d rather than the \u201cboney\u201d part of the side of the hip.\"sliding<\/a>\"sliding<\/a>\"sliding8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the expert \u201cfeet-first-slider\u201d tucks his under-leg, his top leg stretches out toward the base, and that foot reaches for the bag while the infielder is trying to apply the tag. The adept runner can sometimes avoid the tag by placing his foot where the glove is not. The same can be said for the \u201cHead-first-slider\u201d who would try to feint with one hand while grabbing the base with the other. The difference being the vulnerability factor regarding possible injuries to face, neck, hands, wrists, and fingers of the \u201chead-first\u201d runner compared to less vulnerable aspects of the “feet-first” runner.<\/p>\n

Major-League Baseball has rightly enacted the \u201cHome-Plate Rule\u201d to eliminate unnecessary contact at Home Plate. The Catcher can no longer obstruct the plate if he doesn\u2019t have the ball. But at all other bases, no rule currently exists. Therefore, the only legitimate reason for infielders not to block the bag and secure a sure out in many situations is the code of \u201cself-preservation\u201d that inherently attends to itself as the base-runner is sliding in \u201cTy Cobb\u201d fashion, with spikes blazing. No infielder with any common-sense is going to deliberately jeopardize life and limb and career and get in the way of a \u201cspikes-first\u201d runner. Thus \u2013 an integral point to help secure the careers of both the smart fielder and the \u201csmart-runner\u201d!\"Slide_1\"<\/a>\"Ty<\/a>\"Ty<\/a><\/p>\n

It is amazing to me that Pete Rose and Rickey Henderson were never injured. And because of that, all would-be Hendersons and Roses will continue to slide \u201cHead-First.\u201d You\u2019d think that Josh Hamilton would have learned his lesson after sliding into Home Plate head-first, breaking a collar bone, and quickly dismantling another MVP season, perhaps contributing to subsequent unproductive seasons. \"Josh<\/a>Who knows how many more times Josh will injure himself and maybe conclude his career? I surely hope he changes his sliding technique. And let\u2019s all hope that Mike Trout<\/strong> doesn\u2019t have to learn his biggest lesson the \u201cHard-Way.\u201d\"sliding<\/a>\"sliding<\/a>\"sliding<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past week Baseball fans have been witnessing the ill-effect of what has become a standard operating procedure for many base-runners in this modern era of Major League Baseball. Injuries and near-injuries have been highlighted on Television and Stadium Screens, accurately depicting the awkwardness and inherent danger of sliding \u201chead-first\u201d into a base. Early … Continue reading A Most Inexcusable Act of Irresponsibility for Perpetrating Nothing of Substance<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t